THE THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 68, 14 December 1918, Page 11

THE THEATRE

By "Sylvias."

-I'Llp With the Curtain!" . - ' ■ After a. close Vwison oxtiMKlinj; over a month the. llicalivi of Wellington are to open to-day, a lid there 'is small dbubl; Ifuit tlio public will , welcome the diyerliions I hey.present;- Up to <l<ite there is no -word of .'any of Iho steamers leaving ■Sydney,-bitf.-(lien; is not■ nuiitli doubt that they will get. ivwu.v in. tinin to bring to I hese. shores the bi». attractions- pto'mised. by .1. 0. Williamson, Ltd;, '■ for niiristnia". In Hip wp: of- ■Wellington l!n> .-.atlviicHoii-. will- ■■ he ■ the- Mimical f'onifdy. Cninpaiiy in ""Oh, Boy," : with hisses ..Miiuil. Rime, flrccio Lavers, Connie Kdisri. Hand- lirali.v. and ..Jk-asrs. Field-Fi.-lior.- All'ivd Fril.li. nnd Fred 1 . Mn/juiru.to- innlctv it 'go.- -I'lir sidoc {inn \" also reiidins to Nflw- Zea.liiiid Mi<s Muriel Starr ami a roinplri" nniniw.iiv to nlny Bird of .I'oyadifp," "Tim ilniv ■Who fiiine, Baclr," - ami- 'Tho-. fesipst ■ Wily,!'. klii'W;" in . Mio liioliire line Hie firm, i<; sonding over "Iloarte of tlio World,", tlio Idlest- ci'pitin'i of tliiit ninsi'er producer, T>. W. Ciriffith. ■

"The Messiah'." ■ .i.- : Tlio V/elliii|;ton Choral Union lias, decided to sing-"HhiHlelV "The Jlcssinli' , ■at the Town jfi-.H'oii Saturday vifxt (JJocem'bCT 21). This will bo (lie first occasion on. which the big hall has been used for any kind of entertainment, other than a soldiers' dance since the,hotels were, coiiiulilsorily (j!okil at C p.m.' Jlany appeals were uiaile to.the Jlaycr for Saturday bookings, bu# Str. Luke stood ■ firm for "the. soldiers, and. tlio weekly dance ..was ouo qf the -best, ideas; sprung during tho war period for tho entertain.nient of soldiers oivleave in town. "The Jfesiah" will.be tlio la.st oratorio 'to be I conducted in -.Wellington by Jlr. Eobsrt Parker. . : . For the .first •concert, next year tlio union will break new.ground with an ,01(1 opera. Tho Union Committee h;is ■ ■proved from experience that operas jiro.diice larger audiences than oratorios (with tho possible exception of "Elijah" nnd,."Tlie ilessiah"), and as Iliey cannot alM'Ays bo singing those • two ' master works, (hey have to revert to opera lo keep the society Jinaiicial. • Already Die union aii|l other kindred societies have sung . "Faust," "Cavalleria 'Rusticana." "William Tell/' "Sanisoii and Deliluh," •■•"Jfaritana," and "Cariiien"witli fair success.- Next year the union is going, to break into tlio.Verdi repertoire by singing- "II Trovatore,". which is not adapted to concert rendition, thongh.-there are niiiny beautiful numbers for the principals in this fine old. work. But choral societies should produce, choral works— they are. constituted to that end—ami once more.l. raise my pen in protest against the neglect of the fair gardens of chorai. music which arc passed by. in favquv of popular gvajid operas of a past age. ' ' ,". / ' ' .

"The Higher the Fewer." . j. and I\ r . Tnit's lending lady, Miss Enielio Polini, .lias, her own'ideas about the plays that pay. "We must," she snys, "admit the -wisdom, of tho philosopher who eaid, 'The hifjhor- tho fower.' That is, tho higher you go the fewer there will bo to go with yVni. Pineo-o, who was much sought after when he con■fliicd himself- to naughty nonsense; like the -'Magistrate/ ■ ami to sentimental sne-charian;-like 'Sweet Lavender/ lias writton himself through the roof of the theatre with 'Mid-Channel' awl Tho Thunderbolt.' Mrs.Fiske acted her manager into bankruptcy with' her • tragedies'of 'Kiimlef'and 'Kosiirerliolm/ whose lovore. throw- themselves into the mill-race and committed mill-race 'suicide." What_ else could have happened when the national iflol was to bo Charlie Chaplin."

Unconscious Humour. The recent season of 'The Gondoliers" by tho,amateurs in Wellington was not without- 'humoiir that. Gilbert "Nwas. not responsible-' for. During-thei scene iii tlie Hist act between tlie tivo gondoliers and iheir wives there drifted slowly across-, tho buck /of the stngo ft qucei' figuri'• in a drab black working dress, and an apron, carrying v, tin of biscuits, a figure, bo it noted, quite foroign to any character' in the opera. The pulled-audience grabbed- its- program me with a'' furtivo- idea of identifying the now aitiVal, when a frantic rhispor loud enough to be heard lit the back of the dress circle "called: "Missus, i Missus!" Biit'/'Mi'tteu's" took no notice, but slowly am'bled nvross \Ke piazza of old Venice and vianiimed behind the dnca.l palace. ]t was the'Uieatre-charwoman,' who had miscalculated' the geography of tliestai'e. On imotliir night it was Marco's .cue to shy "ThA '.situation is becoming entangled. l>fs toy and straighten it out!" JndtiWV. of .that. he said: "The situation is 'complicated. Let's -try and it .out." This wae before the influenzU v topic hold, too, ' •